Italy will tackle Argentina in Verona on Saturday without flanker Mauro Bergamasco after the Stade Francais openside succumbed to a shoulder problem.

His place in the back-row is taken by Roberto Barbieri, who is joined there by fit-again skipper Sergio Parisse and the reliable Alessandro Zanni.

Craig Gower and Tito Tebaldi continue at halfback while Benetton Treviso centre Tommaso Benvenuti will win his first cap on the wing.

With the Pumas selecting a typically heavyweight pack for the game, Nick Mallett has responded by calling on scrummaging powerhouses Martin Castrogiovanni and Salvatore Perugini in the front-row and a brawny second-row of Quintin Geldenhuys and Carlo del Fava.

Felipe Contepomi will captain Argentina and start at fly-half in the absence of the injured Juan Hernandez.

Hernandez, a key player for the Pumas, injured a hamstring playing for Racing Metro and will miss all of Argentina's November tour which also features tests against France and Ireland. Contepomi and outside centre Gonzalo Tiesi are the only regular 2007 World Cup backs in the Pumas side named by coach Santiago Phelan.

Lock Patricio Albacete also misses the tour through injury with relative newcomer Mariano Galarza lining up alongside Biarritz's Manuel Carizza in the second-row.